Get Connected: Who Pays When Children Get Sick?

A sick child can create stress for families in many ways. Not only are there concerns for the child's health, but also about employment absences if a working parent must stay at home.

In most states, sick children are not allowed to attend child care or school. Some communities have sick child care centers, which provide care for mildly ill children. However, these options are rare. Often, parents must miss work to care for their children when they are sick. For parents who do not have paid sick leave, this means losing a pay check. For some, who have no sick leave at all, it may mean losing a job.

The United States lags behind the rest of the world in policies that help parents care for sick children. A recent Harvard University study found that unlike 139 countries, the United States has no law that guarantees paid sick leave. Today, eighty-six million Americans cannot take paid sick days to care for sick children.

What can parents do?

• Find out about sick leave policies in your workplace: Are sick days paid? Are they available to all employees? Can parents use sick leave to take care of ill children?
• Support the Healthy Families Act: The Healthy Families Act would guarantee full-time workers a minimum of seven paid sick days per year to care for sick family members or to recover from their own illnesses. To sign a petition in support of the Healthy Families Act click here. http://www.nationalpartnership.org/Default.aspx?tabid=114